Artist Karen Yank took this picture of ‘Sense of Place,’ partly assembled, at her New Mexico studio in October. The sculpture is set to be installed at the South Carson and South Stewart roundabout on Dec. 6.
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If all goes according to plan, a crane will be operating near the South Carson and South Stewart roundabout early Dec. 6 before heavy traffic ensues. It will be used to set in place a 20-foot-tall, nearly 6,000-pound sculpture by artist Karen Yank called “Sense of Place.”
Yank will be arriving earlier that week, staging for the installation at the nearby Chamber of Commerce parking lot. A ribbon-cutting celebration is planned for 3-4 p.m. Dec. 6 in the Chipotle parking lot north of the roundabout.
“One of the West’s leading public artists, Karen Yank has formulated and fabricated sculpture for outdoor sites throughout the mountain states and beyond,” art critic Peter Frank said of Yank, who has created more than 50 public sculptures from the Midwest to her home state of New Mexico.
It was nearly a year ago when the Carson City Board of Supervisors approved moving forward with the roughly $200,000 project, which was envisioned in 2017 after the downtown corridor project was complete, according to city officials. Funding for the project came from a mix of redevelopment funds and lodging tax revenue designated for public art and culture.
Earlier in 2023, the sculpture project went through an application process, vetting panel and received support from the city’s Cultural Commission. At the Board of Supervisors, the project split public sentiment (and the board) with many raising concerns about costs and the design itself. Yank, however, was open to modifications, and a final design was approved Jan. 18. Yank changed the central tree depicted in the sculpture from a bristlecone pine to a Fremont cottonwood to make the piece unique to Carson City, among other modifications.
To commemorate the installation the first week of December, the Brewery Arts Center is presenting a pop-up exhibition of Yank’s smaller work and sculptures upstairs in the BAC Exhibition Hall. The work is available for viewing through the rest of November and until installation of the roundabout sculpture Dec. 6. An artist reception at BAC is planned for 5-7 p.m. Dec. 5 with an artist talk at 6 p.m. That event is free and open to the public. For information, go to breweryarts.org.
“My work is a direct expression of my life and inspirations,” Yank wrote in an artist statement. “These inspirations are often informed by the idyllic landscape. This is not to say that my sculptures represent nature, but rather that they represent the emotional impact one feels when in the natural setting.”
For information, go to karenyank.com.